


to stand (those memories)

by Amusical



Series: 'Round Midnight [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Forced Prostitution, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Torture, Other, Sex Trafficking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-26 05:50:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13851393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amusical/pseuds/Amusical
Summary: Don't enter under constructionIf you do enter, be warned that the first chapter is practically the same as the Haven't got the heart. Except a line from the line breaker is different.





	to stand (those memories)

red didn’t know what to expect from living on the surface. definitely not this. this- this bastardized sense of normalcy. not even the kind that comes from the desensitization commonly found in a Fell Domain. No-- red was talking about this fucking farce of a brotherly relationship between ‘im and Boss.

they were on the surface now. and suddenly it was no longer kill or be killed anymore? where’s that MONSTER? the one who knew his way around a casual blade even more than the actual Loyal Interrogator did.

they were on the surface now, and all it took was a simple promise from the kid to be good? And suddenly ‘is bro’s followin’ the rules?

where is he? that terrifyin’ MONSTER wit’ so much self-restraint? So much self-control that red had never even lost any HP whatso’ver whenever-

well, you couldn't exactly blame him for his disbelief. feels too good to be true. Like a sweet smile before the betrayal.

feels like that time in ‘is life when it really started goin’ to shit. like the first time something red had said to a child papyrus and red had seen that wounded look. like the first time red had seen the expression on papyrus’ face  _changed_  after he'd hurt another MONSTER. like the first time that look was directed at red.

red knew he was nothin’. a no good motherf’ck’r. someone who drags people down. a waste of space. but he also has a brother who needs him. who loves him. even if red can't bring himself to do the same. red just knows that Edge won't ever truly hurt him. (as long as he's good. as long as he doesn't mess up. as long as he listens.)

red's brother used to be the one constant in his life. his rock.

But, now- red just doesn't know anymore.

Now-- now everything was just domestic. Just peachy. Sickenly sweet, and filled with edible friendship for breakfast, lunch and supper.

livin’ in a big ol’ house wit’cha bunch of other Skeletons, making nice, makin’ friends- it was freakin’ red out.

Suffocating ‘im.

here were all these MONSTERS who knew how to be good. how to want to be good. ‘ven his brother knew how to fit in. or at least  ~~ _pretend_~~   _try_.

red knew he had to get out or else his teeth would all rot from the sweetness. so he did. he ran away like the coward he knew he was.

(His mind always did linger on his more cowardly thoughts)

away from a sans who knew how to chill, and one who didn’t. away from a papyrus that was actually quiet, and another who used to be collared just like red, but wasn’t anymore. Unlike red. (Away from the creampuff who always believed in him even when he didn't. terrifying in a way that Boss never was. made it glaringly obvious that red didn't belong. unable to trust.  _broken_.) And away from red’s own little brother.

(away from the problems between them.  _ ~~away from the fear that~~ -_)

except like always red didn’t exactly plan’t out, didn’t really think ahead. with no money and nowhere to stay ( ~~well, there was always Grillby, but red liked to think he wasn’t that desperate, not yet, at least~~ ), and now it was snowin’. not that he really felt it, he was a skeleton after all - the cold goes right through ‘im. But if it upgraded into a full blown storm than, well, monsters weren’t completely immune to dustin’ by exposure.

red knew he needed to go inside, find somewhere safe, which was abundant here on the Surface, apparently. ‘ven squatin’ sounded like a better idea than dyin’ in da snow (as if that was anything new). but here he was, outside, in a blizzard - like some overgrown and lost  ~~mutt~~   _dog._

red didn’t even know what he was doing anymore (or did he?). Tugging on the collar around ‘is neck did nothing to relieve the pressure building in ‘is temples - a sure sign of magical exhaustion.

(Of falling down.)

Actually now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen a house or any sort of building in awhile. he might have wandered off into a forest. Instead of being able to find any worthwhile shelter, the snow kept gettin’ deeper the longer he kept walkin’...

red collapsed in a snowbank, and the last thing he saw was a figure approaching.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

 _A **n**  inde_terminate amo ~~u~~ **nt**   _ **of ti**_me  ~~lat~~ _er._

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Alpha was shoveling snow from out of the driveway, not because they had to, but because it was something physical to do. It wasn’t like they were going anywhere with the snow up to their knees, but it was nice, aesthetically speaking, to keep the driveway clear. There was just something about the pristine snow marred by a straight-edged ravine from the door to the mailbox that spoke to the ‘cubus.

Pushing up their glasses with a gloved hand, Al squinted. Speaking of the pristine snow, something was maring it, and it wasn’t their handywork. Right in the middle of the driveway and a little off of it, nestled between the roots of a large tree was what eerily looked like a skeletal hand, just sticking straight up in the air. A reenactment of the dead rising.

Acting against every warning bell Al had going off in their head, all of which screamed for them to step away, not closer. Every prior experience in life yelled at them that a necromancer may have been lying in wait, for an opportunity.

At any moment the skeletal minion would jump to (re)life, grab Al’s wrist, and pull them under. But if Al were a person that listened to their instincts than they wouldn’t be the person they were today. Nor would they be living here in a cabin in the woods with a SO to die for (ha!).

Jokes aside Al gathered up their courage, and held the shovel like one might a baseball bat. And with all intents to use it like one should the skeleton make one wrong move, they stepped in to start kicking at the pretty, pretty (alas!) snow around the skeletal hand.

When the weird looking skeleton was uncovered Alpha just stared at it uncomprehending. It was a really weird looking skeleton. The head was too large to be one of the recognized humanoid intelligences that lived on the continent of Panderu. Was it a homunculus? Clone gone wrong? A mad scientist’s escaped experiment? Or an alien’s skeleton? Al sure hoped not, or else their little secluded spot in the woods was gonna see a fast change into tourist attraction.

The skeleton also didn’t look like necromancer standard fair with the way it was dressed, but who knew? Maybe one of the necromancers in the area liked, uh, collaring their skeletons. And dressing them in big fluffy winter coats. And letting them wear socks and tennis shoes. Possibly a necromancer with high standards or a necrophiliac fancy toy.

Or maybe it was a convoluted reverse spring melt where instead of corpses being revealed by the warmer weather; it was one where a skeleton became buried in a snowbank. That sounded a lot better in their head. Not that they had said that out loud, but it was the principle of the thing. A reverse spring melt, nah, man, it must’ve been something else.

Bringing their head back up, Al eyed the treeline of the woods around their home. Not seeing anything right in front of them, they spun in a tight circle. And when they still didn’t see anything compromising like a horde of zombies or a skeleton army marching onto their property; they honestly felt a little silly. There obviously wasn’t anyone for miles yet.

Reaching down to poke the freakish skeleton, Alpha was in for a shock. A magical shock to be precise. It wasn’t anything magically active or anything of the sort, however. Passive in nature, a trait that all Monster magic (aka their bodies) possessed. It was always startling for Alpha, a magical being of the flesh to touch someone made of pure, concentrated magic.

A tingle, one that was all at once familiar and alien all at once.

Ah, Monsters the magical (literally) people that had come up from under the Ebott Mountain Range around half a decade ago. Strange that there was one all the way out here, and half dead if Al was any judge. Well, it wasn’t all that strange they did live in the woods surrounding the mountain range, but the Monsters rarely came out to their little nook in the woods. Back on topic Alph didn’t think that Monsters were supposed to be this cold, but since they hadn't arrived to find snow mixing with dust and turning to sludge; the Monster wasn’t actually dead.

Strange that a people that didn’t leave behind skeletons had skeleton people.

From what Alph heard it didn’t seem like that Monsters were cold-blooded (at least their equivalent of it), and the skeleton was actually shivering. Although the shivers were kind of faint which from what they knew was a bad sign. Probably. They were basing this off of what they knew from non-Monster reactions to the cold, so. Alph should bring the poor Monster in before they, you know, dusted. Before they knew it Al was already through the foyer, and halfway up the stairs, dragging the Monster by the hood of their coat. Not even noticing that the both of them were tracking snow, sludge and mud all over the floors and stairs until that very moment. Al had to stop at the landing to lament this fact, loudly. And with a few, quick choice words.

Banging in the double doors to the master bedroom, Alpha announced themself with a shout. “I’m back! Read!” A shuffle from their nest of a bed, and a mumble was all that greeted Alpha, however. Frowning Al redoubled their efforts. Read might have been a vampire, but it was time to wake up now, despite it still being sunup. “Wakey, wakey! I got something to show you.” When an eye peeked out from the blankets, eyebrow raised, Al answered her silent plea. “Found someone trespassing on our yard!”

“Throw ‘em ‘nto th’ garage,” the words slurred from sleep. You rolled over.

“‘ll interrogate ‘em later.”

“No, I mean, I found someone lying in the snow. Lost. Under some snow. I think they have hypothermia.”

“‘mmmn…” You turn back around. “Wah..? Are you holdin’ a corpse?” Bleary eyed and blinking rapidly, you finally taking notice of what Alpha was holding up in one hand. Ol’ boney was pretty light! Like an actual skeleton, Alpha frowned, weird stuff.

“Nah, it’s a Monster!” Alpha took in the way your eyes widened minutely. Did you know this Monster? Nah, other than a brief widening of the eyes your face didn’t do much of anything else. Maybe you recognised the Monster walking down the street or something. It might have also been shock from seeing a skeleton. Al knew you disliked Necromancers and their undead just as much as they did. Pulled from their thoughts, Alph looked up from the skeletal face on the ground, by movement from the bed.

Chuckling silently, eyes dancing in mirth, you swung your legs over the plush mattress. “I wonder what we should do? We’re snowdin, so it's not like calling an ambulance would do anything. How to treat hypothermia…?” You sat on the bed, a finger tapping your chin. You totally had an idea on what to do, but you were hamming it up. Alpha would know your thoughtful (but playful) hum anywhere. They were glad the sun wasn’t keeping you down today.

“I know.. How ‘bout we cure hypothermia the old fashioned way?”

“You mean like in the nude?”

“Yep,” you popped the p, grinning cheekily.

“Ooh. How frisky!” You snorted. “I’m down!”

“Pfft,” you ran fingers through your long hair, resulting in Alph growing mid-back length hair in response.

“Scantily clad snuggling is a go~” Confirmed Alph, making sure the both of you would be comfortable. It would be weird if there was a mix up in clothing level (them) or something. Also your gauge for what you deemed comfortable fluctuated a bit (unlike Alph), and sometimes you didn’t speak up unless you were prompted. (It’s not like the both of you hadn’t walked around your own house in various levels of undress in the warmer months-)

A nod from you satisfies their unspoken spoken question.

“I can clean up mystery Monster here in the bathroom, while you heat up some golden flower tea,” a pause. “Sound any good?”

Alph mentally sighed in relief. They sort of came to you, because they were nervous about undressing an unconscious person. Even if they needed to, because the clothes were soaking wet, and the Monster was probably going into shock.

“Sounds good to me,” Alph gave a thumbs up, and a wink. They watched you bridal carry the Monster into the bathroom before turning around and heading towards the kitchen. Al almost couldn't wait for the little bugger to wake up.


End file.
